


Clove victorious

by PerlaHope



Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: POV First Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-12
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:02:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22668250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerlaHope/pseuds/PerlaHope
Summary: Clove survived the feast by stabbing Thresh. Now she, Cato, Katniss and Peeta are the only ones left: two pairs of tributes, from two districts. But while Cato aims for himself and Clove to go home together, Clove has some different plans...
Kudos: 5





	Clove victorious

“Cato!” I shout. “They’re coming!”  
There’s no need to hide anymore. Today is the last day in the arena, I’m sure of it.  
Cato comes running from the trees, his sword in his right hand.  
“Good,” he says and grins.  
We sit down by the lake, waiting for them to come closer. We may seem at ease, but my hand is clenched around a knife handle in my jacket. It’s my best throwing knife; the one I stabbed Thresh with. As soon as they’re close enough, it will pierce Lover Boy’s body.  
I can see Cato’s fingers twitching. I’ve known him for such a long time that I’ve grown used to this tic. It means he’s excited. In this case, excited to kill.  
He looks at me and sees that my hand is inside my jacket. “Don’t kill him immediately,” he advises me. “We want to give them a good show”.  
I nod. The audience will get a good show, but not exactly in the way Cato expects. He believes in the rule change. He thinks we can go home together.

I know better. When we’re the only two left, the rules will be changed back again. They can only have one victor. The moment Cato realizes only one of us can survive, he’ll try to kill me immediately. When you’ve trained killing your whole life and killed at least five people in the last two weeks, one more victim isn’t a big deal. Even when you’ve known that person since childhood.  
Being at least twice my size, he would win easily in close combat. That’s why I’ll make sure there won't be any of that. As soon as he’s killed Katniss for me, he’ll be dead. At least he’ll get a quick death, not a painful and slow one like Lover Boy.

Now they’re emerging from the woods. Like us, they know hiding won’t help them anymore. This will be the final combat.  
The moment she sees us, Katniss fires an arrow at Cato. It bounces off the body armour that was in our pack from the feast. She looks confused, which makes Cato laugh. He stands up very slowly and starts to walk around the lake towards them.  
I follow him. With my right hand, I pull out the knife. At the same time, I check the position of the second throwing knife with my left one. It has to be easy to reach.  
They are now about twenty metres away from us. I see that Lover Boy’s holding a knife in his hand. Pathetic. They think they can outpower us with a knife and a bow. I snort. We weren't trained to kill since we were toddlers for no reason. We know how to kill, especially when the victims are weak, desperate.  
Now Katniss tries to shoot at me. Again, the arrow bounces off. A look of slight panic crosses her face. She’s realized her only weapon is useless against us. A smirk appears on Cato's face; he's truly enjoying himself.  
We keep on walking in their direction, enjoying their "look-intimidating-and-not-like-you're-scared-for-your-life"-faces. Cato looks dead bored, but I can see his hand twitching again. The other one is holding the sword already lifted in front of him.

I’m sure I can hit Lover Boy from this distance. A tiny nod is enough to signal to Cato that I am ready. I see his muscles tensing. He’s ready to attack.  
In one familiar movement, I lift the knife and send it whizzing through the air. At the same time, Cato storms at Katniss, his sword cutting her chest. My knife hits Lover Boy in the stomach, right where I knew it would. He sinks to the ground.  
I turn to look at Cato, who is kneeling on top of Katniss. She’s got an ugly gash across her face and there’s a steady gush of blood that’s streaming from her chest. The ground around them is already soaked in it.  
He’s talking to her, teasing. With every sentence he adds a new wound to some part of her body. He’s distracted by her. It’s now or never.  
I pull out the second throwing knife. With a tiny feeling of regret, I throw it into his back. It hits his armour-free upper back where I “accidentally” left the zip open this morning. He collapses on top of Katniss. Then I throw another one at him, making sure he’s dead. The sound of the cannon confirms it. His death was quick, almost painless. 

Now, with Cato gone, I don’t feel like torturing Lover Boy and Katniss anymore. I get a knife into both of their heads, finishing them off.  
After their cannons have fired, it suddenly sinks in: I’m the last one left. I’m the victor.  
Over some speakers that are hidden somewhere, they play the victory trumpets and announce that I am the victor of the seventy-fourth Hunger Games. A hovercraft appears in the sky and a ladder drops down in front of me.  
While I am glued to it, I think about Cato. The boy I played with when I was a child; my childhood crush. My ally in the Games. My final kill.  
Then I think of my family in District 2. At home, waiting for me.  
And then I realize the real reason we want to win the Hunger Games. It’s not fame, or glory. No matter how eager we were to volunteer, all we really ever wanted to do was go home.  
And I am. I’m going home.


End file.
